ghost onigiri bento

ghost onigiri (filled with sauteed mushrooms and miso paste), nori and cheese eyes, nori mouth, pickled radish cheeks. he’s peeking out from behind a “bush” made from parsley.

also in this bento:  a carved jack-o-lantern mini pepper, made with sherimiya’s excellent tutorial (thanks sheri!), snap peas and two red grape tomatoes, a silicon cup filled with asparagus and takuwan sticks and purple potato stars, and a spider food pick.

[as seen on holidash and japanisches allerlei (all things japanese)]

spider web bento

the first in a series of halloween-themed bentos.

top half: egg-and-cheese wrapped asparagus tips, yellow wax beans, mini pepper, mini heirloom tomato, purple cauliflower, grape tomato, pickled radish quarters, and hot dog flowers with pea centers.  bottom tier: layer of spicy tofu covered by a thin layer of rice, with nori spider web.  plastic spiders, have to remember not to eat them!

“chicken” nuggets bento

lucky sundae’s adorable doggie bento inspired me to check out the neat bento character recipes provided on the ajinomoto webpage as part of an ongoing contest.

my bento is copied from this cute chicken bento, except i made mine with trader joe’s soy chicken nuggets.

the chickies’ beaks are yellow beet, eyes and feet are nori, combs are soy pepperoni. the chickies are sitting on rice, which is just one layer on top of a layer of shredded cheese, and beneath that a layer of refried black beans (all leftovers from veggie burritos the other night). the top veggie portion is purple broccoli with a cheese-and-sesame flower, yellow wax beans, “twist” cut yellow squash and cucumber, asparagus, two red grape tomatoes, and maki’s pickled radishes.

[as seen on epicute, micro krill, and lin loves]

spring roll bento

main compartment:  leftovers from last night’s dinner of homemade vietnamese spring rolls (mine are vegetarian — bean sprouts, cilantro, basil, tofu, carrot, and glass noodles dressed with soy sauce, sesame oil and chili flakes), with yellow beet stars added for garnish, lined with a cabbage leaf and buttressed by pickled radishes, yellow and red tomatoes.  right compartment:  leftover fried rice with a yellow beet and purple potato flower garnish.  bottom compartment:  edamame in a silicone food cup, with yellow wax beans and red carrot sticks.  not pictured: homemade peanut butter/soy/sriracha dipping sauce for the spring rolls.

musical egg bento

top left: bosc pear, red grapes, pomegranate seeds, granny smith apple, and purple potato flower. top right: japchae with carrot skewer. bottom left: hard boiled egg with nori music notes, peapods, and soy sauce bottle. bottom right: red grape tomatoes, purplish-green mini heirloom tomatoes, takuwan flowers, and pickled radishes made with awesome recipe from maki at just bento.

matyroshka bento

matryoshka themed bento:  main box has peanut butter-banana sandwiches on whole wheat bread (faces and accessories  are made from nori, cheese, and gochujang) with lettuce lining and raspberries.  sidecars have curried cauliflower with carrot blossoms, and pickled korean radish with nori blossom.

[as seen on fuck yeah matryoshka]